Magnetic Accelerator Cannon: Difference between revisions

While never officially incorporated as a weapon, Mass Drivers have been used, most notably at the Rubble and Harvest, as MAC weapons. Their purpose is for drilling holes into asteroids and moving giant metal ingots to other in-system locations, but it can be a very powerful weapon. They use MAC technology to fire a large, dense slug across whatever distance necessary. It has been noted that they could launch a slug across the entire system of Hesoid. While not a purpose-built weapon like a MAC, these platforms are still potent weapons of opportunity. In [[2525]], [[Mack]] used two mass driver rounds to cripple the [[Brute]] controlled cruiser [[Rapid Conversion]].

While MAC's work on the principle of Gauss technology, railguns are a similar but separate type of projectile acceleration. Instead of using coils activated in sequence to accelerate a ferrous projectile, a rail gun uses two convective rails to accelerate a projectile (which is in between the two rails). A very large current is passed down one rail, through the projectile, and back through the other rail (completing a circuit). This current creates a strong magnetic field, and (by way of the [[wikipedia:Lorentz force|Lorentz force]]) the projectile is propelled by the magnetic fields away from the back of the rails, accelerating the projectile out of the gun. The only known railgun in service in the UNSC was the [[LRG Rail Gun]], mounted on the [[SP42 Cobra]].